On a June morning in 1998, I responded to the alarm that I'd set and went to listen on my Amateur Radio equipment, to see whether (Australian) NASA Astronaut Andy Thomas might just be awake while over Australia, during one of the few overhead passes he'd be making before returning to Earth from the 4 months in the MIR space station.

Blow me down with a feather! There he was, calling, and no-body was responding. So I did. We conversed for a few minutes.

I taped it, and sent out a media release. It took a few days then there was a media frenzy. A few months later I was invited to meet Andy Thomas when he was visiting Canberra and its NASA Deep Space Tracking Station.

I still have that tape.

I listened to it a week or so ago.

Hmmm.

Andy is currently living the high life, again! (He's also been to space since, in March 2001.)

_____
Peter